The Beasts in the Balance
by TempestinTime
Summary: Everything needs balance. Can a Bad Wolf enhanced Rose help defeat the creatures of the dark planet that threaten Riddick? After centuries in the Void embracing her own inner beast to survive is she more animal now than girl? Will that beast call to Riddick's own. Takes place in parts of Parting of Ways, Dooms Day and Pitch Black, spoilers for the above. Mainly an Action fic
1. Conversations with the Universe

**A/N, This is my first fanfic (so please be gentle), and I've set myself a whooper. Technically a crossover, this will take place almost all in the Riddick universe. This is a fanfic that will join a BadWolf affected Rose to the Riddick universe. I'll always write in 3****rd**** person but some chapters will be very certain character centric. Rose isn't superhuman or immortal or with amazing powers but is fairly equal to Riddick's Furyan abilities. This is mostly an action and adventure fic, will have romance later, Rose/Riddick, but it will be many chapters in.**

**A/N 2, To be strait up this isn't a reunion fic, sorry to disappoint. This is an AU with the Riddick universe; it will be fairly close to the Riddick movies. If the first story following Pitch Black and the second following Chronicles are well received I'll be doing more stories covering the adventures had in the 5 intervening years with Rose and Riddick.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated but no flaming please, I've tried to set the story parameters clear enough to alert those who are looking for a type of story that this isn't early but not give it all away.**

**Disclaimer: I, of course don't own any of Doctor Who or Riddick. **

* * *

**Chapter one: Conversations with the Universe. **

The moment of connection between the heart of the TARDIS and Rose Tyler caused a ripple that echoed throughout the universe. This ripple was invisible, but felt in every atom of every world. The shiver that passed through every living thing, dismissed as the cold, premonition, steps over the grave, was felt by the Universe herself. She raised her head from the dormancy of detached observation and breathed deep of this new power, born of love and compassion, the fierce need to preserve and protect and the need to destroy that which threatens the pack. Calling itself Bad Wolf, this new power ruled over Time and Fate themselves for but a few moments, it forged its self across the stars and howled in defiance of any Fate not of its own choosing.

Through the walls of that universe and into another the shudder was felt by one man. One man more animal than human, a Furyan warrior with shining eyes.

Riddick jerked to a stop as a shudder passed over him, as though someone had brushed a finger up the inside of his spine. Immediately suspicious, Riddick scanned his surrounds, every sense focused of finding the threat. His inner animal stirred, intrigued by the event unfolding. As Riddick strained his hearing he picked up the faintest howl, a bestial call, almost screaming. His animal reared in response, so strong was the compulsion to follow this beast's call that every muscle in his huge body twitched. The scream seemed to convey a fiery birth and a burning pain and it yanked forward a need never felt from Riddick's mind before, almost unidentifiable. The need to protect and possess, to answer a mate's call. His beast seemed to strain forward in the need to answer the call, Riddick tensed, in no way trusting this foreign feeling or drawing call. He reigned in his animal, pushed aside the unfamiliar and untrusted feelings and continued forward. What crap, like he believed in that mate bull shit, there was no one like him out there. Shit if there was he had probably killed them already. Going forward he put the event from his mind, though the inner animal never forgot, it only waited.

The Universe looked into the heart of the new power, it would not burn long but its effect could never be undone. The nature of the power was not that of good nor evil. Balance ruled this beast, as balance rules all the bestial hearts in all the worlds. A beast in its environment does not kill its prey from cruelty, its kills to eat, to protect its pack or to defend its territory. These are acts of survival and necessity, not evil. The human girls' compassion balanced the instincts of the bestial nature of Bad Wolf, allowing acts of kindness to be seen not as weakness but what was needed to keep hope alive. Understanding that hope is essential to any sentients survival.

Moments stretched into eternity as the bestial entity looked on all that could be, lines of Fate stretched before it. It sent the words, its name, through Time and Space, leading the girl to where she needed to be. So much hardship to come, had been, the words would lend strength and the hope that will be so badly needed.

So many lives, lines of lives, twisting and intersecting, life and energy stretching to every part of every universe. All but one. As the Bad Wolf looked upon that ravaged universe, with the grief of a mother to a lost child, the Universe herself approached the Wolf. With the mental equivalent of a cautious poke in the ribs, the Universe drew the snarling attention of the Bad Wolf, breaking it away from the painful view of world after world, devastated before their time.

_Can you feel their pain?_

"Yes"

_This imbalance threatens all universes. They seek another plain of existence, reaching it would sunder all. We can prevent this._

"I cannot change that which does not affect her Doctor."

_Though he is important here the Doctor is not the centre of every universe. In each universe there are forces that influence in one direction and the other. You have helped her save the influence for good and order here, and he will go on to do so much good because you have saved him._

"There is a 'but' there." said the Wolf with the girls' sardonic humour.

_Yes there is._ Replied the Universe with the raising of an eyebrow. _I am in need of her influence in the ravaged 'Verse. Another needs her to be his balance. _

"You can surely see the girl will not leave the Doctor."

_You can see the lines; she will not have a choice much longer. _Said the Universe with a tinge of sadness at the suffering to come._ Look into her, would she not choose to save the 'Verse in need, as her Doctor would choose, knowing that in his future there will be others to love and help him as she has? He will never be alone long. There is a mate in his future, one that is not Rose. Would you see the being that brought you into this existence in such pain?_

The Wolf pondered as it looked into the girls' heart and mind, the timelines in which she was present. The bestial heart and wildness that would be left by the Wolf in the girl could never be understood by the Clone, the Doctor or indeed anyone of intelligence of this universe. Roses' mind, mostly dormant so as not to burn in the first moment of contact with the vortex, shimmered with the barest of understanding of the important conversation taking part around her. The two great forces metaphorically turned to regard her as the essence of Rose tried and failed to regain enough of her own brain power to form a coherent thought. Instead she conveyed the basic feeling of understanding. Her very essence and core rebelled at the thought of leaving her beloved Doctor.

The Universe regarded her with a kind of bewildered understanding and compassion; it had been time immemorial since the Universe had deigned to communicate with an individual of any species.

_Child, the coming time is not meant for you to be a part of, and the life destined at this moment for you is not one you will fit into well or happily. Could you content yourself to meeting the Doctors' Wife? Or living in a universe to which you were not born with a man who will never understand the wild of your heart as it will be after this?_

The agony of Rose in these realisations echoed through the two entities like the splinters of a shattered glass heart bursting outwards. Pain, ripping and burning, tore through her soul, at the realisation that he needed her no longer. Her Doctor, the centre of her world, would soon have another. She had been through so much with him, done so much for him that to be cast aside for another would destroy her to her smallest atom.

The essence of Rose then did what can only be described as blink at herself. How selfish those feelings really were, she was, at heart a mortal, short lived and delicate. In her future she could see him implore her to see it from his eyes. To watch someone you love wither and die and be powerless to prevent it, but have to continue on, these losses piling onto your soul with every connection lost to you. How could she deny him the chance to be with someone who was like him?

While the Universe waited with a patience born with the first star The Wolf nudged Roses mind's eye to the time of the Doctor after the War, before her. His self-destructive ways his empathy dying and his mind torn and bleeding. After her appearance his mind lightens, preservation returning and he laughs again. Another blink as Rose observed the difference she had made.

As her essence and core came to realise she had been instrumental to her Doctors life, saving him after the War, from himself and now saving him from these enemies. She could continue to be important to him and his mission, saving a universe as he would, as he had taught her. Even if he never knew of her actions, she would know, and know that he would be proud. In these indefinably long moments of hidden time Rose came to an understanding with the Wolf and the Universe.

_Your way will be long and hard, know this child. You will have a will of wild animals, a predator's heart and instincts. Training will be needed to embrace your inner beast and its senses and instincts. _The Universe warned.

_You will go through pain indescribable and desolation that would drive the strongest mind mad. Look into the future, the time of the Void. The space between universes, under my complete control, this will be your training ground, its inhabitants your trials, the hardest path of any to undertake, will you accept this?_

Rose was still for a single moment, taking in all before her, information and events to come. Pulling together all the power she could muster from her mostly dormant mind she simply stated.

"Yes."

**The coming chapters will be a view of the separation event of the Doctor and Rose and some time spent looking into Riddick as he crashes to the desert planet with the Hunter Gratzner and the events that will precede Roses appearance. They will slightly differ from the movie as it's centred on Riddick's actions and thoughts not seen in the movies scenes. **


	2. Dinner in the Void

**A/N**: **This chapter is again very Rose-centric, and fairly long and so I made it into two parts, so please have patience with me. The next after will be Riddick focused and will take a good look into those times in the PB movie you don't see him much and his perspective, thoughts and actions. I hope your liking it so far J Please review, as posting your first story takes more courage than I had realized. **

Chapter 2, Dinner in the Void

Referred to as the Howling by the Eternals, the Void, Hell and the Darkness. The space between the universes is called all these things; it is all and none of them.

The Doctor screamed Roses name for all he was worth, as though, through will and voice alone, he could pull back her slipped fingers back to the safety of the clamp. He thought only of the Void as the one place to which he could never go to save Rose. The moment stretched and froze as Rose caught his eye one last time on the very threshold of the Void, it etched forever in to the Timelord's considerable memory.

Her face reflected her fear, heartbreak and longing to stay, not to be forever separated from the Doctor. With the last thought he could manage before she was lost to his sight he registered the resignation on her face, as though a choice once made was remembered. The lightest touch brushed his mind, a golden caress, the last gift of the Bad Wolf, communicating indefinable pain and loss, and love. A love that would never be forgotten.

_"Goodbye my Doctor"_

-o-o-o-

The last echoes of the Wolf looked on as Rose disappeared into the void, turning to regard the Universe the Wolf said,

"It's up to you now; if they reach the realm of the dead the way will be opened for that which has passed to return."

_I am aware, Wolf. _Replied the Universe with a hint of disdain. _There is much more at stake for me than you. You have done your work here, the Doctors future is secure, be at rest, I will look after what is needed now. _

The Wolf continued to regard the Universe with what intensity its fading being could.

"Do not overlook the fact that the girl is still human, her human feelings will conflict with her new bestial heart for some time to come, until a balance is found." Slightly sad, as the last of its essence faded the Wolf said "Every being, in all your universes feels in some shape or form. You should remember that you do too, for what are you if not the creature that is all creatures?"

Thoughtfully the Universe moved one of her innumerable facets to the Void realm where Rose now resided. The way to come would be long and painful for the girl, because if she failed in the task the Universe had set for her all would be lost. It had been so long since the Universe had come into such close contact with a singular individual she was almost unsure as to how to continue this small humans training.

Many beings had fallen into or been banished to the Void over the time of the existence of the universes. Some universes were older than others; some had life that existed in no other. Those worlds lost before their Time were kept as flickering memories in the Void, awaiting the moment they were needed again, to finally fulfill the purpose they never had the chance to. There was no Time in the Void, no true Death, Rose could never truly die, but she would wish many times she could before she would finally pass from the walls of the space between the universes.

-o-o-o-

The sight of the Doctors stricken face faded from Roses sight as white enveloped everything, the deathly white of a wall that had ended significant chapters in the lives of both Rose Tyler and the Doctor. The beings that would emerge from this event were very different from those that had landed on Earth not so long ago with wide grins and happy hearts.

Pain so eclipsing that even thoughts ceased to exist, over took Rose. As each cell and atom separated and seemed to float in the Void, single soundless voice reached the small golden conciseness that clung together with a tenacity that was undeniably human.

_Be whole again child, for there is much you have yet to do._

With a sucking, jarring sensation Rose seemed to blossom outward, becoming whole again from her center.

Reeling from the overload of the last few seconds Rose opened her eyes to get her bearings, to try and make sense of something, anything at all. Nothing changed. The darkness was so total it felt unreal. Even space had light, distant stars, coloured gasses. Nothing was this dark.

Rose looked down to her body instinctively, only to curse herself for impulse, she couldn't see her body. She flexed her fingers to see what could be felt, yes that felt like all five on that hand. Flicking her thumb over the digits on the other hand produced the same result. So far so good she thought cautiously, wrists flexed successfully, elbows bent inwards and out again. She pulled her knees up, not bothering to try her toes out, an odd distorting sensation passed as Rose realized she had not even questioned the weightless feeling that had, at some point, registered to her. She was floating.

Pelvis, legs and chest all accounted for, Rose thought with a wry humour. Best for last she thought as she reached for her head, slightly misjudging the distance to her still slightly curled body, resulting in an abrupt smack in the nose. Well the brain must work Rose thought with a wince, cause that didn't half sting.

Well, thought Rose, everything present and accounted for. The Doctor would chuckle at how she had changed since that helpless moment standing before the dummies about to lop her head off. The thought of the Doctor brought about the abrupt realisation as to where she must be. The Doctors devastated face flashed to the front of her mind's eye as a terrible sadness overtook Rose at the thought that she would never see him again. Tears gathered and dropped, great heaving sobs tore at her chest as she mourned what felt like, and at heart was, a death of a loved one.

Rose was so lost in her grief that she failed to even register the feeling of no longer floating but solidness under her and warmth covering her. She curled in and eventually sobbed herself to sleep.

-o-o-o-

The dream like state that Rose drifted through evoked hazy memories of a timeless conversation between powerful entities. One she had hardly been able to understand, though eventually enough comprehension had filtered through her mostly dormant mind to see she faced a choice. In her dream like remembering Rose recalled this choice, a choice between the man that was never meant to be hers for the forever she had promised him and the end of not only one universe but all of them. In the dream state Rose railed at the unfairness of the choice she was forced to make. Stay and end up heart broken, rejected by the clone of a man who she had loved unreservedly because he could no longer understand her, feared by her family, without a place in a universe that was never her own. Or this new destiny, full of blood and pain, fear and hardship. Though there on the horizon, after an untold time in a timeless place of brutality, was someone, an unknown someone, who was the only person in all of the multi-verse who would understand her.

With a regretful sigh and more tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes a sleeping Rose accepted there really hadn't been much of a choice. She would still rail and yell, scream and cry at what she felt was the injustice of it all, she would use her anger against those to come, but eventually she would accept this new destiny. Be damned though, if she was going to go along with it quietly.

Light filtered through Roses eyelids to penetrate the fog of sleep surrounding her. Scrunching her nose in annoyance Rose blinked her eyes open to try and pinpoint the intrusion. Blinking a few more times to focus her gritty and tired feeling eyes Rose looked around what seemed to be a small room. Bare, brown stone walls surrounded her, a single round table and an uninspiring wooden chair sat in the center on what seemed to be a wood floor. A lamp with no cord sat in the middle of the table, casting the muted yellow light that had woken her.

As Rose noted the lack of door she was left wondering if this was any better that the dark nothingness. Though her body still felt slightly light, as though the room floated as well, not sitting with miles of ground under it as most planets did, or the reassuring real gravity feeling the TARDIS simulated.

"I seem to be shut in." she muttered to herself, only to twitch a little in shock at the sound of her own voice. As if she had been in the quiet for a long time.

_There is no Time in this place. Though if it were to be measured by your perceptions standards, then yes you were asleep for a rather long time._

Rose managed to surprise herself with how fast she de-tangled from the blanket covering her to jump up from a bed she hadn't even registered she had been laying on. The barest glance around the tiny room reaffirmed to Rose she was indeed alone. Had she heard the voice? Imagined it?

"Who are you? Where are you?" Said Rose with an attempt at a strong voice, in her experience invisibility was rarely used by any one with good intentions.

_You would think of me more as a what than a who. _

Ugh better and better

_Sarcasm hardly becomes you child. _

Rose blinked in shock at the apparent answer to her thought. Rose's brain scrambled to keep up. Shit, telepathy and invisibility, can't be good, she considered what she needed to know most.

"Alrigh' then, what do you want?"

_Life to continue as it is meant to._

Rose rolled her eyes; she was beginning to feel less scared and more annoyed. "Yea, most people want to get on with their lives."

_Again with the sarcasm._

"Ok then, let's start with one even you must be able to answer straight," Rose said with heating anger, "where am I?"

_In what you call the Void._

Rose tilted her head slightly smacking her face slightly harder than necessary into the palm of her hand, hoping the sensation might centre her a little. Nope, face palming didn't help. This was getting nowhere fast.

_You're not asking the right questions. _Said the voice with what Rose thought to be a smug sort of laughter tingeing its voice.

"Jeez what do you want from me?!" Rose nearly yelled with frustration.

_Now that is the right question. _

Rose tried counting backwards from ten.

_Patience is apparently not a virtue of yours either. Alright child, you'll get your answers but you won't like them._

Rose lost a good deal of her frustration at that point to have fear come flooding back.

"What is it that you want from me? I am stuck in a room, I assume of your making, with nothing."

_All you need is within you. You remember your choice; this is where you will begin to prepare for what will be required of you in the new universe. _

Rose was caught up briefly in the remembered conversation of two forces so much bigger than her small self. Remembrance of the choice made. Damn it all, I don't want to be here she thought frantically, eyes flicking over the walls and roof, instinctively looking for an out.

_You'll be able to leave this room soon enough. Then training begins. I suggest you eat and rest however, as the coming time will be a great trial for you, rest and sustenance will be hard to find. _

Well that was really reassuring, Rose thought sarcastically, glancing over at the table where a plate with sandwiches, salad and a pot of tea now sat. Then cringed slightly at the feeling that something, somewhere was raising an eyebrow at her.

Well at least her imagination hadn't been impaired.

After concluding that the entity that had future use of her wasn't likely to poison her Rose ate everything given to her and drank a good portion of the tea. Feeling full and sleepy Rose went back to the plain wood framed bed and curled up under the blanket. She knew now, who the two entities were that had conversed in her mind that day, so long ago now. Bad Wolf and something so big and old that she couldn't even try to comprehend it, able only to call it the essence of the Universe itself. The Wolf was gone now, leaving her here with this immeasurable being, alone.

And that's how Rose Tyler felt. So much more alone than she had ever thought one person could feel. There was a burning ache in her chest as Rose curled further into herself, a bundle of flames burning with all the feelings she just couldn't cope with. Loneliness, loss and fear. Closing her eyes and drifting, the thought of what 'training' would entail surfaced, she scooted her mind over to avoid it. Moving towards sleep Rose could see the flames in her mind's eye Rose imagined she saw a pair of golden eyes looking through the flames back at her, narrowed and waiting to leap through the fire.

-o-o-o-


	3. An Improved Rose

**A/N. This is the last chapter about Rose and her time in the Void. Warnings for language and violence. **

**Disclaimer – Forgot this last chapter oops. Don't own characters or movie plot, just the ideas that are different. **

Chapter 3 – An Improved Rose

The Doctor stared at the white wall in front of him, one hand placed on it as if he could push through to reach her. She was gone. His magnificent mind, the one that had never truly failed him, stuttered to a halt. Unable to comprehend that she, the amazing Rose that had saved him so many times in so many ways, was truly lost to the one place he could never go. She'd gone to hell because of him, the Howling, the Darkness, she was there and he had caused it. He laid the side of his face against the wall in a vain attempt to feel his lost companion on its other side. Lingering in the air around the wall shimmered her last feelings, he inched open his telepathic abilities to feel the fear, grief, regret and bitter goodbye she had felt in those last moments. Feelings strong enough to imprint the very air around him. His own bitterness and regret threatened to choke him as he felt the last feeling she had felt as the Void had closed around her, with her last moment of goodbye she had let the most powerful of her feelings rise to the surface, love. She had loved him.

He pulled away from the wall, away from the feelings he had reciprocated and never been able to bring himself to say. He had shown her in so many ways, his stuffy straitlaced race had rarely demonstrated physical contact, never held hands or hugged. Yet he had done that with Rose, more than any other companion. But he had never said to her the words that would have shown her human mind how much he had cared, and now he never would. He made his way back to the TARDIS in a daze of unseeing pain. He piloted the TARDIS away from that cursed building and into the vortex with the barest awareness of his actions. He made his way over to the captain's seat and slumped down. He had no idea how long he sat there, time had ceased to matter to the Time Lord.

Hours or maybe days later the Doctors silent mind began to waken from its stupor. Where there had been silence, raging thought burst forward, he would save her! Damn the rest, the universe owed him this. He jumped up from the seat and ran forward to the console; frantically flipping switches to fling the TARDIS from the vortex and into normal space. The TARDIS sent him frantic waves of distress and rejection of his plan. She couldn't allow this, too much had yet to happen, people needed him and another awaited him. The Doctor ignored the warnings and began the sequence to rip them through the fabric of the universe.

Left with no other choice the TARDIS harnessed the echo of Bad Wolf, connected to the Doctor from when he had taken it from Rose, within her and contacted the Doctor more directly.

_"You cannot! This must be. Rose lives, and has her own task to fill, as you do my Thief."_

The Doctors jerked to a stop in shock at the communication. For a moment he was still, and then returned to his frantic work.

"No Rose belongs here, with me; I don't care about the future."

"_You do not mean that_." The TARDIS rejected.

"I do!" yelled the Doctor to the empty room, "Why must I lose her? I've lost everything, not her to!"

"_I'm sorry my Doctor, you cannot stop this_." The TARDIS locked her controls and everything ground to a shuddering stop.

"NO!" yelled the Doctor, slamming his fists down on the resisting console, sparks flying into his face. "No, no, no!" he began with a scream but ended with a whimper, his legs giving out muscle by muscle, sliding him down to the grating. How would he go on? The only person who had meant enough to save him from himself was gone.

He felt blackness creeping into his mind as the overwhelming emotions wiped out his last defence with the aid of the TARDIS.

"Why?" muttered the Doctor with hurt at his TARDIS's actions.

The TARDIS softened the grating as he fell back with a thump, she would regret what she had done and had to do now, and he would be so angry when he found out, but it had to be done. With no closure and no one around to help him, her Doctor would self-destruct from this loss and there was so much still to come.

Sadly the TARDIS moved through the Doctors mind, gathering the memories of rose together, his love and loss, pain and fear for her now. She applied a curtain to them, he could see them still, access them and feel the feelings attached but they were dulled. She imparted her feeling of knowing Rose was needed else-where, that she was safe and had much to do. The TARDIS knew dulling the feelings like this would undo some of the good Roses presence had for him, he would be a darker more harsh and unforgiving Doctor but she knew it could not be helped. One day these feelings would be unlocked, when he saw Rose again, she could only hope that when that day came the Doctor would forgive her these actions.

-o-o-o-

Rose woke abruptly as the bed she had been sleeping in seemed to vanish out from under her. Hard rocky ground impacted her tailbone, upper spine, shoulders and back of her head with bruising force. Rose blinked as she tried to clear her now pounding head, only to realise the bright light piercing her eyes so rudely was half the reason her head hurt. Raising her arm up to block the light Rose did a quick self-inventory to find any other sources of pain, she was getting good at that she thought wryly.

Both arms were brought up easily enough, giving Rose enough shade to realise she was looking up at a blue sky. Rose sat bolt upright and looked around frantically. Was this Earth? Some other planet she had visited with blue sky? Brown dirt surrounded her, pebbles and small rocks scattered around, Rose winced, finally noticing the sharp rocks digging into her behind. Getting to her feet Rose looked further afield, Earth-y looking bushes and trees surrounded her, not very thick but enough to prevent seeing too far ahead. Could this really be Earth? Had she somehow gotten back?

_It is an echo, of a world very similar to your own._ Sounded the Universe in her head.

"Seems pretty solid to me," remarked Rose, picking up a rock and tossing it a few feet away.

_This realm, the Void you call it, is malleable to me. Here I keep the memories of all the lands that have been destroyed before their time. They flicker here until a place for them is made again. _

"So like storage?"

_Yes that is somewhat close, nothing truly exists here except those who are trapped or sent here, these planets are echoes, memories like I said. Imprints. _

"So actually not really real?" she said looking around in disbelief, the Doctor had told her what he knew about the Void and this was far exceeding what little info she had.

_No and yes, I control what seems solid and real. It is there but not. _

"There is no spoon," muttered Rose shaking her head. An amused feeling intruded into the corner of her mind.

_You are real, do not fear that. _

Feeling slightly north of overwhelmed Rose took a seemingly safer route of thought, "how can I hear you? Shouldn't the Universe be too big to talk to one little brain?"

_I am but one facet of the over all, one part of the working whole. If I was to center all attention to you the Void its self would implode._

So much for safe, thought Rose. "Why talk to me at all? Don't you have better stuff to do?" said Rose slightly rudely. So sue me, she thought, it's been a long few days.

_Yes actually I do, however you require a few instruction before I can leave you to your own devices._

Roses eyes widened in panic, "Wait your leaving me here?" "I thought I was supposed to be saving a universe somewhere?"

_You will be. In time, but first you require training._

"I know things!" Rose replied indignantly. "Bit of Aikido n' stuff."

_The little training provided to you by the Doctor will not be sufficient to see you through the trials you will face in the universe you will be going to. _The Universe replied with a tinge of frustration.

_You must learn to withstand great pain, hardship and terrain you have never encountered before. You must heighten your senses, learn to survive on little food and sleep, you will learn to use weapons and become one yourself. _

"What do you want me doing?!" screamed Rose, "Joining Special Forces?!" Rose felt panic set in, how could she do all that? She was just a shop girl not so long ago. Sure she had saved the Doctor a couple of times, faced a few bad guys, but this? This sounded like she had to become an army all by herself! To do what? Save a universe? By the sounds of it singlehandedly!

_You will not be alone. When you leave here you will join another who is much like you, in him you will find a kindred spirit. _

"How does that help me now!" shouted Rose, "I seem pretty alone right now!" and she was. There didn't seem to be a living being anywhere around her, not a bird in the trees or an ant on the stony ground.

_There is another with you; you must first learn to embrace it._

Rose shaded her eyes and peered around dramatically, sarcasm trying to take over from her fear. Rose let it, sarcastic felt less helpless than afraid, "Nope still not seeing anyone," her voice rising, "Can't even see a twitch in the grass, must have left my specs at home!" Rose ended shouting the last word.

_Your companion resided with in you; Bad Wolf did not leave you defenceless._

That brought Rose up short, Bad Wolf? But that was gone, faded away after the Daleks had been reduced to golden dust.

_An aspect of the beast will always live in you, a part of you, your heart is transformed. _

The burning in her chest, Rose realised briefly, it had never gone away, just pushed to the back of her mind, in an attempt not to dwell on the pain of loss of her Doctor.

_Your pain and loss is what holds back your bestial side, when you can look past your pain, embrace it, and work with it. Your animal side will be released. _

"Release what?" asked Rose wearily, releasing anything animal related was bound to be bad.

_Heightened senses. Sight, smell, hearing and taste. Better endurance, faster healing and greater overall health. _

"So I'm feaking Superwoman, great!" Rose bit out, fat lot of good some wee beastie heart did her right now.

_No, you can't fly._

"I hate you," Rose muttered, hanging her head in her hands. All Rose could think was how badly she wanted the comfort of her bed on the TARDIS, maybe a shower and some tea. A hug from her mother, god she'd never see her mother again. A tear slipped down her cheek. Here she was, alone, standing on strange ground that wasn't really ground, waiting to undergo some hellish training to save some universe she had never seen with the help of her beastie heart and some guy who had one too. Could her life get much worse?

_I will leave you now, for an hour or so you will protected from the sight of the beings around you, I can give no further concession though. After that time you will be like any other in the Void. _

"Yea righ' thanks for the useless chat, see you later then." Rose lashed out with the only weapon she had, words. Not that it did any good.

_Embrace the animal Rose; it's the only way to survive._

With the parting words Rose's head felt lighter, like the weighty presence had left her. It was both a relief and saddening, she didn't like the Universe at all right at this moment, but at least it was a that voice wasn't hers. Now she really was alone.

-o-o-o-

After sitting on her ass a while and generally wallowing in her misery Rose stood again and gave her-self a firm mental shake. Sitting here wasn't going to help her. She had no idea how long daytime lasted here or how cold the night time might get. And she was getting rather hungry. Turning in a circle Rose tried to decided where to go, everything around her looked solid and leafy, not a fruit or berry looking plant appendage in sight. Seeing that the forest seemed slightly less dense in what felt oddly like a northerly direction she set of that way. The forest floor its-self seemed quite clear, no grass or other small plants, just larger bushes and trees and still not a single trace of any animals. Rose drew a deep breath but only picked up the scent of dirt and greenery around her, her hearing however picked up the faint crash of metal on metal.

Following the sound, in the direction she was moving anyway, Rose picked up to a jog until the crashing racket was very close. Slowing to a walk Rose crouched and made her way to the edge of the foliage, marking the boundary of a clearing. At the center of the clearing what could only be described as a war was being fought. There seemed to be no sides or teams or even pairs among the fighters, each battled on their own against who-ever was closest. Forgetting they couldn't yet see her Rose ducked behind a convenient bush, and peeked through the leaves to the seething mass. So many different species whaled on each other with an array of weaponry. Squat, potato looking humanoids with blue amour and blasters fired at random at whoever was in front of them, upright lizards slashed with swords, a Dalek fired at everything that moved. Rose cursed at the sight of the hated pepper pot, then widened and gasped as what she could only figure was a freakin Troll mowed through the group, stepping indiscriminately on everything in its path until it reached the Dalek. Swinging a car sized fist the Troll crushed the entire side of the Dalek with the hit and sent it flying into a tree not far from Rose. Shrieking in shock and horror, Rose desperately rolled and bolted in the other direction, around the clearing to an oak like tree and grabbing hold of the first branch, vigorously hauled herself up the tree.

A few meters up she stopped, breathing hard, Rose looked towards the ground to see what of the creatures had seen and followed her. Seeing nothing Rose sigh in relief and looked back to the battlefield. The contestants were thinning rapidly as the troll wrought havoc on all around it. Realising this, the opponents momentarily forgot each other and turned to swarm the troll, it went down fast and its roaring cries shook the leaves in Rose's tree. Sickly wet sounds reached her as the various species each extracted their retribution. The horror of death finally hit Rose as the last of the combatants turned back to each other to continue their fight to the death. Stomach rolling, Rose watched as the seeming winner of this macabre contest stood victor only to topple over from his wounds.

Rose took a shuddering breath, desperate not to cry over the gruesome sight she had witnessed, she knew she had to control these emotions, had to learn to survive in what would seem to be a very hostile environment. Climbing down the tree, after noting there was a nice bowl like juncture further up that would do as a resting place if there was no bad weather at night, Rose made her way to the battlefield to see what sort of species existed here with her. As she bent at the edge of the massacre to examine the lizard person a movement in her outer vision snapped her head around. A person! A very human looking humanoid emerged from the forest and bolted toward the group of bodies. Rose backed up, slightly crouched ready to defend her-self but not too worried as the guy really didn't look all that harmful. He, however, took no notice of her. He grabbed the first body and started to pat it over, rifling through pockets and stripping weapons from the corpse.

"Hey!" called Rose, "What are you doing?!" shocked to the core at the blatant disregard of the dead.

"Gotta get 'em before they dissolve" the man muttered distractedly. "Just been Reglued, damnit I hate starting from nothing!" Moving to the next body he started rifling again.

Rose just stood there utterly bewildered. Not one part of that sentence had made any sense.

"Say what?" said Rose loudly; with the sinking feeling she was missing something very important.

The man lifted his head and looked at Rose properly for the first time. "Holy shit your new here aren't you?" said the man with confused wonderment, there hadn't been a new human is so long!

Rose nodded her head slightly, feeling slightly more cautious.

'Huh, ok. Well get useful stuff off the bodies. You'll need it." He bent back to his work but looked up a minute later to see Rose still watching him.

"Well?" he snapped impatiently, "I don't have time to stand here teaching you! They will be gone soon, see?" he pointed to one of the first potato like blue men that Rose had seen die, it was dissolving! Just fading away before her eyes. "Hurry, they might Reglue close by!"

Still confused, Rose moved to a close by human, one that reminded her of a barbarian from picture books, wrapped in furs with a crude knife in his hand. Rose took the knife and a leather binding strip from the body's leg to tie the knife to her leg. Well, she thought, kinda like the people in the apocalypse movies, grab what you can to survive, as she rummaged through a pouch at a lizards waist. Rose hoped this wouldn't be what her life was like for long.

-o-o-o-

Rose sat perched in the bowl of her tree, the canvas rigged above her to keep the rain out snapped slightly in the wind. She surveyed the field in front of her for anyone approaching, seeing nothing she turned her sharp gaze to the forest at her back but it looked clear. The sun set off to her right today, she never knew where the sun would be, what colour it would be or if there would even be one. Curling down into the bowl of the tree Rose pulled up the blanket she had scavenged. She reflected on her time so far, 'cause not like there was much else to do. That first day had been such a learning curve she still felt dizzy occasionally. They had been harsh lessons. Divesting a few items from the bodies near her, Rose had turned to ask the man near her what 'Regluing' was, only to have him stab her straight in the heart. That moment she had learned to trust no one, let no one near her back and that dying hurt. Alot. She also discovered what Regluing was. Nothing truly dies in the Void, it can't, as there is no Time, neither is there death. So the body and everything on it just dissolves and is remade at a random location nearby, or very far away, Rose had learnt it was fairly random. The bitch of a thing she thought, she had also learnt that it was only the body was reglued, so anything on you was lost, unless someone got to you before you dissolved, then they got what you had. Everything in her little perch had been passed through so many hands that they were covered in marks and stains almost sickening to look at. Little of that worried Rose now though, she scavenged it regardless.

Rose could feel the difference in herself, she was harsher, more pragmatic and extremely wary and suspicious of everything. She slept lightly, aware of her surrounds and had become much wirier from all the climbing of her tree. But still she wasn't a match for the Void and its inhabitants, she rarely fought or interacted directly, even with the groups of beings she encountered, who sought safety in numbers. There was still something missing, something her holding her back, as if still not fully committed.

The Universe looked on as Rose slept, unhappy with the progress. Yes the human child could scavenge and hide, drop rocks on intruders from her little perch and had learnt to be suspicious of everything, but she still could not fight, had not build the pain tolerance she would need to survive in the universe. It was time to resort to more extreme measures. There was one here, one who would force Rose to face her emotions and unleash her inner beast to survive.

Sometime later Rose heard rumour, whispers of the slowly dying that a horror stalked the world Rose currently inhabited, a shadow that whispered to your mind. Of horrifying fears brought to life to slowly kill the victim from the inside out. Rose began to avoid the shadows to which she normally clung to keep safe, she rarely strayed from her tree, but to trade for food or scavenge the dead. One day though, her luck ran out.

It started like a tingle at the back of her brain, like a feather brushed over her mind, Rose whirled around. Frantically searching the area around her, Rose grasped her knife from her leg, or 'shiv' as the people here seemed to call them. The whispering started almost too faintly to hear, but grew stronger and seemed all around her.

"Losssst little girl!" it hissed, "Unloved, unwanted. You're forgotten here while He loves another!"

Tears started in Rose's eye, how did it know that? Images of the Doctor holding another's hand flashed in her mind, his big grin as he looked at a girl so much prettier then her, his bent head as he kissed her…

"No!" screamed Rose, taking off at a run, "I know what you're doing! I won't let you" She stumbled and gasped, tears running down her face at the images playing through her mind and the unrelenting whispers telling her she had been forgotten, there was no use for her, she was just here to give the Doctor freedom to move on.

"No, please. Stop." Rose moaned. The emotions she had pushed aside for so long came crashing forward, the creature used her agony of emotions to gain access to her mind and took over, and freezing her muscles to keep her still, it approached. Terror tore at Rose, fragmenting her mind, giving the creatures steel grip on her mind all the more strength.

"Stop! Please!" Was all Rose could utter as the area around her darkened and a black mist approached. With no options left and now running more on instinct than thought, Rose turned to the only place left. Within. The burning in Roses chest, that had never gone away, burned brighter as she turned to the eyes regarding her through the flame at her heart.

"Please, help me." She begged. The eyes regarded her calmly, waiting.

"I know they aren't real, they are just my fear." She admitted, "I know I'm meant to do something important, and so is he, without me." She finally admitted to herself, he wasn't going to appear someday, with a groaning wheezing blue box, to save her. It was just her, her and the beast within. Realising that she could only live if she accepted this she turned to the eyes.

"Alright" she said simply and opened her heart; Rose closed her eyes and surrendered to the animal within. The burning fire whirled into a tornado, and as when she had taken in the time vortex, the flames sucked in to the beast's eyes as it leapt forth and seemed to fill out with in her. Every muscle tightened and grew, her eyes burned as new ligaments formed and attached to them, even her ears flared in pain as small alterations swept over her. The instincts and mind of the animal merged with her own and shocked the paralysing grip from her thoughts.

Opening her eyes Rose saw in sharp contrast the misty being in front of her despite the dark forest. She bared her teeth and snarled in instinctual aggression at the threat the creature posed. Confused and intimidated by the sudden change in the small humanoid that should have been an easy meal the creature retreated.

"Thissss is not over." It hissed as it dissipated and the forest lightened slowly.

Rose stood up straight from her crouch and shook her head to clear her mind, her new instincts telling her the danger had passed. She made her way back to her tree. This was a hell of a day and she had some sever readjusting to do.

-o-o-o-

Rose stopped trying to keep track of time in any way after that day. The challenges had come hard and fast as though the Universe knew she had turned the needed corner and so had decided the gloved were now off. New enemies appeared every day, all bent on killing her. That's how she saw them now, enemies. Again and again at first they killed her, and the pain of the various ways they killed her were bad enough, in the time it took to Reglue all that Rose could feel was utter and indescribably agony. All sense of self was lost, all care or want, all awareness was lost in the sea of pain. But every fight taught Rose something new, a new move, a new way to defend, better aim. And worst of all she learnt to kill, to kill in defence without remorse. Though the times she saw anyone innocent were few and far between, Rose never killed those undeserving. Or at least undeserving in her view at the time, if that being tried anything on her later then all bets were off.

With every-one of those early deaths Rose lost all her belongings, forced to start from scratch every time. She learnt fast to improvise, to use all her surroundings and anything that came her way. Every death put her in a new terrain, a new planet and a new enemy in front of her.

She learnt to survive in deserts, snow bound mountains and even volcanic and volatile holes in the ground. She learned to escape bindings, push past her pain and her bodies' new limits. She attuned her senses to the surroundings, learned to focus the muscles in her eyes to see well in the dark, to see things far away, to open the tiny archways in her ears to hear amazingly and differentiate even the smallest scent to identify a situation. Putting the information gathered from all her senses together could even triangulate her enemy and fed her ever updating information. She could run for hours and twist her body astounding ways to get through and in or out of the worst places. But she had limits, extending those limits affected her like anyone else Rose discovered. Many times over exerting and leaving herself vulnerable. Rose died a few times from simple injuries she didn't tend, refusing to stop when she knew her body needed rest and a few times because she got cocky after a few wins and the Universe would bring her down a peg. Normally by having the environment kill her off in creative ways or Regluing a creature near her that was impossible to defeat, telling her in no uncertain terms that overconfidence would get her killed just as fast as a shiv to the heart.

Rose, after a particularly nasty fight with what she now knew was a Sontaran, reflected that she hadn't really even thought of her inner beast as a separate entity for a long time, they were one and the same, part of each other. She even looked animal'ish these days she mused, gazing into a pond she had come across, she looked into the still water at her reflection, her hair now was stripped black and gold, the gold had become her natural colour upon entering the Void but with every death a few strands had turned black or deep brown. Her tawny head was surprisingly helpful at camo, she pursed her lips, still the same looking face, slightly thinner but still her. This view she always used as reassurance, no matter how she changed, how much more she could do now, she was still Rose. The only real difference was her eyes, golden sheened, they shined in the dark almost like cats eyes.

Figuring it was about time to feel clean again, jumped in, after a quick strip. She would probably regret taking her clothes and shivs off, hell she even had a bow these days and was good at it, but fuck it; she was desperate to feel clean again. One moral she had never truly let go of was not using guns. Rose had collected an impressive array of weaponry since her last death, the fights had seemed relatively easy until this last one but she had been careful not to get overconfident. A very nice, wood handled hunting knife was strapped to her right thigh, a solid bone whittled to shape on her left, a needle like strip of metal in her boot served as an as-needed lock pick, a simple dagger hidden in the band at the back of her black cargo pants and a nice pair of matching throwing knives at disguised in the leather bands wound at each wrist.

As Rose emerged from the water and shook off, waiting for the sun to dry her she kept a wary eye on her surrounds. She had a nasty feeling something was coming, things were going to well she thought cynically. Rose had found just days before an amazing little stash in a ghost town on this echo planet. A box full of bras, underwear, cargo pants and slightly lose tank tops. And one canvas jacket. The whole situation made her very suspicious, she had watched the town from a distance for a day and night before deciding to go back in and take the items. But oh it was heavenly to have real clothes again! A small, one strap across the chest pack was also in the box, so in went a change of the clothes, a few extra weapons and what little food she had scavenged lately. She left half the clothing in the box and hid it below the floor boards of the house in case she was able to or needed to come back.

After redressing an odd, almost over crowded feeling filled her mind.

_You're ready._

Then the pain came. Golden light surrounded her, and bit by tiny bit she dissolved, swirling out into the golden twisting storm, screaming the entire time.


End file.
